Remember Me
by VampireBasket
Summary: Sequel to Erase Me/ 'No way. Akira would never willingly help the Mist–' 'You are forgetting, Kisame, that she has no idea that she ever held any loyalties to the Akatsuki. Which leads me to my final point. Should any of you come across her, you are to treat her as an enemy, she is no longer an ally of the Akatsuki' /Rated M for language-(Mainly Hidan). DeiXOC, AkatsukiXOC
1. Unexplained Over-Protection

**A/N: **Heyyy so I'm redoing the sequel because I didn't like the way the other one was going and I don't think anyone else did either since there was hardly any reviews.

I hope I don't disappoint this time… please keep me posted on how I'm doing, there's no point me continuing this story if no one likes it…

So same again, if you haven't read Erase Me, this isn't gonna make much sense half the time but I'm happy to answer any questions either via reviews or messaging whatever.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters, only the OCs.

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><p><strong>Unexplained Over-protection<strong>

The mist was thick. Thicker than it normally was. The Mizukage had ordered extra guard patrol since the attack on the village watchtowers two weeks ago, so Haru often found himself incapacitated and therefore withdrawn from his self-assigned duty of keeping an eye on his teal-haired friend. Despite his best efforts, he was forced to remain loyal to his leader's orders over his own, so rarely saw Akira these days.

Like the extreme weather, Akira's head was dull and hazy from her increasing lack of sleep, and on this particular morning, she found herself sitting on her wide windowsill hugging her knees, and watching an oblivious Haru in the distance on his patrol.

She missed his company, and wished she could talk to him again about her increasing concern of the reoccurring dream. She avoided sleep as much as possible, because the night only brought back the faces.

They had agreed to tell no one that she had recognised the blonde intruder that had entered the village, although his partner was unfamiliar. She'd had short red hair that flicked out in all directions, with bright amber eyes that seemed to glow as they glared out from under her spiky fringe.

The attack had been a strange one. The intruding pair had invaded the village for no reason other than to wreak havoc and cause wide-spread fear among the villagers according to the Mizukage. It had, however, been an organised attack. One had taken to the skies and blown up several of their village defence buildings, while the other had broken into two weapon storage compartments in the Kage tower and completely destroyed their supply, leaving them extremely vulnerable should any other enemy forces come calling.

They had taken nothing and attacked no one but the watchtowers, simply entered the village and left again. But why? There was a hushed rumour circulating the higher-level ninja's that they were from an S-rank criminal group and had possibly come looking for someone or something. The Jinchuuriki were their first guess, but since Yagura had long since been captured, and Utakata had not been seen for several months (presumed also captured), they dismissed that thought.

Their next idea was that they were assessing their defence levels and planning some sort of sneak attack in an attempt to capture the Mizukage. But something about that just didn't seem right. According to Intel, they'd left almost as quickly as they'd come.

From her seat in the window, Akira began to draw the red cloud pattern in condensation with her forefinger, which she'd seen on their cloaks. She sighed and scrubbed it away, swinging her legs off the windowsill and pottered into the hall to get her coat. Haru may be on duty, but she could still accidentally on-purpose bump into her friend on a fresh morning stroll.

She found him easily, pacing back and forth beneath the Kage building. His eyes lit up as she approached, a grin forming on his pale face.

'Hey, stranger,' he called merrily, a cloud of vapour puffing from his mouth as his breath met the cold air.

'Long time no see,' she offered him a sad smile, rubbing her arms to keep warm.

'What brings you outside in this temperature?'

'I just had to get out of the house. I haven't slept much and I was bored…' She leaned against the building tiredly, twisting a loose piece of hair between her fingers. 'How's Kage-watch going?'

'Just wonderful… It's simply thrilling standing around in the freezing cold all day!' He rolled his eyes sarcastically and she grinned.

'Well it's a good job I bumped into you then isn't it!' Reaching into her coat, she pulled out a silver flask and, unscrewing the lid, offered him a cup.

'So what really brings you out here, then?' Haru lifted his chocolate brown eyes from the small plastic cup now filled with steaming tea. She met his gaze momentarily before dropping her head to watch her feet as she rolled a stone beneath her left foot.

'I needed to talk to you. About two weeks ago. I can't stop thinking about it and it's scaring me…' Her tone was hushed and she kept her face down as she spoke. 'What if, I mean, in the past… What if I did something terrible? Why else would I erase my own memories?'

Her friend took a small sip from his cup before reaching out to take her hand, giving it a small squeeze. 'Don't assume the worst. If they really are from…' He paused to glance around him, lowering his voice to barely a whisper as his spoke again. '…The Akatsuki, then who knows what happened to you. Besides, that was two years ago! A lot has changed since then, and you're not a bad person. I don't think you ever could be.'

She gave another small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and pulled back her hand, awkwardly stuffing it into her pocket as if to warm it up. 'I can't believe everyone's still on such a high alert. I mean, yeah they attacked and the reason is unknown, but they're gone now and there's been no sign of them coming back yet so why keep upping the guard patrols?'

Her friend's expression darkened as he looked at her, something hidden behind his chocolate brown eyes that she wasn't sure whether or not she had imagined.

'I don't know. Maybe I'm just underestimating them.' She tucked the hair she'd begun playing with again behind her ear and grinned. 'Besides, I guess you can never be too over-protective in this world.'

Haru snorted. 'You sound like my mom…'

Akira laughed at a vague memory of the eccentric and exaggeratedly maternal woman that was Haru's mum. Despite her over-the-top motherly fussing, Makito really was a very likable character and Akira had often found herself seeking her company when she was feeling lonely or left-out.

'Actually, there _is_ something else.' Haru's voice broke her out of her daydream and her gaze flickered to meet his troubled one. He seemed torn, as though debating letting her in on some great internal secret he had.

'What do you mean?'

'I mean, there's another reason for all this guard duty. It's not just to protect the Mizukage or the village…' He hesitated, taking a long, drawn out sip from his flask before finally bracing himself to speak again. 'The guards are to protect a prisoner… And by protect, I mean keep from escaping or being rescued.'

Akira blinked at him curiously, waiting patiently for him to continue.

'I really shouldn't be telling you this but I think you need to know. One of the Akatsuki that attacked the village two weeks ago was tracked down a few days later. The squad that traced him managed to subdue him and bring him back to the village. He's been in interrogation ever since…'

Her eyes widened as realisation dawned on her. 'H-him? You mean…'

He nodded, biting his lip as he watched her reaction anxiously. She stared furiously at her feet, her confusion and inner turmoil perfectly evident on her pretty features.

She made no move to reply, so after a few more long moments, Haru sighed. 'I spoke to the Mizukage, she knows about your, erm, dream…'

Blue eyes snapped up at this, shock and slight betrayal flickering across her face at his confession. But she softened almost immediately, obviously understanding his reasoning, especially under the circumstances. 'And? What did she say?'

'She wasn't happy at first, she thought it was suspicious. But I talked her round, she knows you have no idea what happened in the past and I politely reminded her that it's not your fault what you dream about… She didn't want you to know that they had the prisoner, but I didn't agree… Obviously.'

She nodded slowly, her mind reeling. 'I think… I need to speak to her.'

For a moment, she thought he was going to protest, but he suddenly threw her a quick reassuring smile. 'Okay. I'll come with you.'

********** Elsewhere **********

'Jashin-damn-it I'm bored. I'm so fucking bored, damn it.'

'Yes, you may have mentioned that once or twice, Idiot. Now shut up while I count…'

Hidan scowled at his partner as he watched him lay out several piles of notes onto the larger coffee table in the room.

From across the room, Kisame groaned. 'Why do you _always_ have to use that one? What's wrong with the floor? Or, oh I don't know, you room?!'

'Why does it bother you so much, Fish face? You're not even using a table.' Kakuzu growled at the blue man as he watched small white eyes narrow in his direction.

'Because if I wanted to use a table, _that_ would be the one I'd use.'

'Will you guys all just quit your whining and shut the hell up?!' A new face entered the room, scowling at them with piercing amber eyes. She ran a hand through her short hair and slumped into a worn-looking cream couch.

'Piss off, shorty. No one asked you!' Hidan glowered, his magenta eyes flashing in irritation at the red head.

'Geez, alright Zombie! Don't get your knickers in a twist. What's new anyway? Heard anything from above?'

Kisame tutted. 'Not a single thing. Nothing. Nada. Zilch! Although Itachi reckons he'll make a move soon. He's just as bored as we are…'

'I was talking about news on my stupid partner _actually_.'

As if on cue, the raven-haired member drifted in through the doorway and perched on the edge of a chair. Behind him came Pein and Konan, with Zetsu nowhere to be seen.

'Kiri, since you're so eager to find him why don't you go look for him yourself?' Kakuzu snapped, obviously trying to kill their annoying conversation while he was busily adding up his profit from his recent bounty drop-off.

Kiri opened her mouth to throw back a sarcastic response, but a dark figure dressed mostly in black entered the room, silencing the group and immediately gaining their full attention. His head turned to scan the room briefly before nodding once at Pein to begin the meeting.

'Some of you may be aware that we have been missing a member for the past week or so. There are rumours being passed through the Hidden Rain that he has either been killed or simply defected from the organisation. However, I believe neither to be true.'

There were a few cautious glances around the room as their orange-topped senior continued. 'As Konan mentioned earlier this week, there has been no signs of a battle and as we all know it would be difficult to cover up since his method of destruction is, well, extremely destructive.'

'Doesn't prove he hasn't done a runner though…' Hidan muttered, clearly already bored with the topic.

'Deidara may be impulsive but he is not stupid. He knows better than to, as you say, 'do a runner', Hidan.'

The Jashinist scoffed but didn't bother with an intelligible response.

'We have reason to believe he is being held captive somewhere in or around the Land of Water. Therefore, we are deploying two teams to gather information on this theory. Itachi and Kisame will head to the border between Fire and Water, but do not cross the water. I want you to scan the length of the shoreline and report back as soon as possible. Hidan and Kakuzu, you two will cross the water and search on the actual island.'

The blue-haired woman beside him stepped forward at this point, offering some words of friendly advice. 'As hard as this will be for you especially Hidan, it would be best if you could resist drawing attention to yourselves, and do your utmost to avoid coming into direct contact with the hidden villages.'

'Seems like a lot of effort to go to for the sake of that one fool…' Kakuzu grumbled, stuffing several pouches of money into his cloak pockets.

'It's not necessarily the individual, it's the information they could gather should they manage to access it.' Pein pursed his lips thoughtfully, but a quick nod of agreement from his partner convinced him to continue. 'We also have reason to believe that a certain ex-member may be residing within the land of Water. If our sources are correct, then her ability to enter minds and memories could seriously compromise our position.'

'No way. Akira would never willingly–'

'You are forgetting, Kisame, that she has no idea that she ever held any loyalties to the Akatsuki.'

The blue man huffed in resignation, realising that Pein was indeed right, glaring slightly when he spoke again for the final time.

'Which leads me to my final point. Should any of you come into contact with said ex-member, you are to treat her with the same attitude you would with the enemy. She is no longer an ally of the Akatsuki.'

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><p><strong>AN: **So a few things to note about this sequel, it's two years later, so Akira is 22, Deidara is 25, and Kiri is 18, thought I'd throw her age in since she's new.

Please review and let me know if you like it or I'll probably just end up scrapping this one too! :/


	2. The Mizukage's Plan

**A/N:**So here we go with Chapter 2, I'm much happier with the plan for this version of the sequel.

I am considering posting as much as I'd done on the previous version though, just so people can see where I was going with it as there were some fluffy moments in it, but I don't know. What do you guys think?

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Naruto, though if I did I would be a very chuffed little cookie.

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><p><strong>The Mizukage's Plan<strong>

There was a surprisingly long line of people waiting to speak to the Mizukage. Akira wondered absently whether it was always like this, or whether it was just due to the recent chain of events involving and resulting in an increasing amount of guards and a considerable lack of missions.

She fumbled impatiently with her ticket that held her number in the line to see the infamous lava-spitting Mist village Kage. She was number 37, though she figured there was probably about that many people in the room as it was. Haru sat silently beside her, twiddling his thumbs and pretending to look casual, even though they both knew very well that they were equally practically shaking in their seats with a combination of anticipation and nervousness.

There wasn't much of a waiting room, just a wide-set corridor with a few benches and a small wooden desk where two Jounin sat slumped in worn-looking office chairs, occasionally standing to issue a ticket when a new person joined the queue.

After a few minutes, the door to the Kage office opened and two young genin skipped out, ridiculous goofy grins plastered over each of their faces, giggling as though they had just met their favourite celebrity.

'Number 22? Number 22, please.' One of the bored looking Jounin stood wearily from behind the ticket collection desk, gesturing for the next in line to enter the office.

Akira sighed and leaned her head back against the wall she was leaning against, forcing herself to relax as she realised this could take much longer than she had hoped. Time ticked by and the minutes turned to hours, until finally, almost two hours later, their number was called.

Haru had managed to drift off sometime during the wait, so she prodded her dozing friend lightly on the arm and headed for the door.

The Mizukage greeted them with a disinterested wave and indicated for them to sit. Akira had to smile at the woman, it was three in the afternoon and she was probably knackered from keeping up her professional façade in front of all the villagers. But it made her feel slightly warm at the idea that the Mizukage trusted them enough to drop her act. _Ah well. Not for long…_

'So, Haru, Akira. What brings you two to the party?' She rested her head against her hands, leaning forward on her elbows and letting her eyelids droop slightly.

Haru gave Akira a wary sideways glance, who audibly swallowed in response.

'Couldn't keep your mouth shut huh, Haru?' The Kage's visible green eye remained cool, making it apparent that she had expected him to blab all along, and clearly wasn't too fussed about it. Either that or she just couldn't be bothered getting angry right now.

He gave an awkward laugh and lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck. 'Y-yeah, ha, sorry about that milady…'

The auburn-haired woman rolled her eyes and slumped backwards in her seat, crossing her arms comfortably over her chest. 'Come on then, what're you after?'

Now it was Akira's turn, so she sucked in a breath as she prepared to speak. However, when she tried to form words, she found herself struggling for a sentence. 'W-well, I… Um, I guess I just… Erm,' She paused from her stuttering, frowning as she realised to her embarrassment that she wasn't actually sure why she had come to see her.

She closed her eyes briefly to compose herself, deciding to just speak her mind. 'It sounds a bit crazy… But I don't really know what I want to hear. When Haru told me about the erm, the prisoner…' She resisted a grimace at the title that somehow seemed like somewhat of a swear word. 'I guess I'm just confused. With the whole reoccurring dream thing.'

The fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, was not an unkind woman. She was, in fact, considerably open-minded and easy-going, and so as she watched the poor, seemingly innocent girl stumbling over her words before her, she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.

'I suppose it would be rather confusing for you. I can't imagine possessing such a jutsu myself, to be able to erase my very own memories…' She 'hmm'ed thoughtfully before continuing. 'Have you ever, to your knowledge, performed such a technique on yourself previously?'

Akira immediately shook her head. 'No, never. As far as I'm aware I have all of my other memories perfectly in tact.'

Haru made an amused sound from her side, distracting her momentarily, but she pressed on determinedly. 'I just don't understand why I would do such a thing. What could have been so terrible…?'

Haru cocked his head to peek at her questioningly as her voice trailed off.

Mei strummed her fingers softly against her desk, a habit she had developed when she was deep in thought. When her hand stilled, she stood quietly and moved to stand beside Akira, placing a hand lightly on the girls shoulder upon arrival.

'I have an idea, though you may not like it. Hell, it's a pretty risky idea actually and I know for a fact I'll have to bat my eyelashes at quite a few people to get them to turn a blind eye, but I've learned to trust my instincts over the years.'

The young pair exchanged nervous glances, earning a smirk from the Mizukage. 'Don't worry; you can refuse if you wish. But I hope you'll hear me out.'

********** Later that evening **********

'Well, it's time. Are you sure you want to do this, Akira?'

She pulled on her favourite navy jacket and absently pulled a few loose strands of hair out of its furry hood, before she hesitantly stepped through her door to meet Haru on the doorstep. 'I'm sure.'

She chewed her lip as they walked in silence back to the Kage tower. She _wasn't_ sure that she wanted to do this; she just knew that she had to do something, and this seemed like her only option to date.

Mei was waiting patiently for them outside her office, and she jumped up from flirting with the young receptionist at their approach.

'You haven't changed your mind then?' She addressed the blue-eyed girl, flicking her auburn hair over her shoulder as she offered them a smile.

'Apparently not…' Haru muttered. He was pretty sure this was probably the greatest risk Akira had taken since arriving in the Mist village, and he was absolutely positive that the Mizukage knew this too. Needless to say, he wasn't particularly thrilled with the plan.

'Alright, then I'll lead the way.'

They trundled after her obediently, following the twists and turns she made throughout the tower until she led them down a lifetime's worth of stairs and into the deepest level of basement the building had to offer. And by basement, Akira noted, they actually meant dungeon.

The dungeon was true to its name. It consisted mainly of one long hallway with stonewall dividers built to separate each piece of 'equipment', ranging from restraint racks to cages of scuttling red-eyed, mutant rats. There was an overpowering stench of rotting flesh that was so strong it stung Akira's eyes and numbed almost all her senses. It amazed her how unnoticeable this atmosphere was around the rest of the tower. Gritting her teeth, her breathing shallowed as she fought the urge to gasp and desperately resisted the need to clamp her fingers over her nose.

Seeing right through her attempted brave façade, Haru gently brushed his shoulder against hers reassuringly as they continued down the seemingly endless corridor, which led to the occupied prison cells. Her eyes flickered briefly in his direction but she was far to busy holding her breath to respond.

'Don't worry, it's not as bad in the cells.' Mei mumbled, making it apparent that Haru wasn't the only one to see through her act. She managed a small nod.

Finally, they arrived at an arched metal door, which the Mizukage had to unlock in several places and perform a complicated looking hand sign before it could be hauled open. As she had promised, it was much easier to breathe on the other side, and Akira couldn't help but release a sigh of relief.

They stopped outside the first cell. The bars across the high viewing window were old and rusted, but the faint blue glow around the edges confirmed that the unit was built to withstand heavy chakra blows.

Mei withdrew an equally rustic looking set of keys from her pocket, and selected the longer, thicker key of the bunch. It clunked inside the keyhole as she fiddled with the lock, having to reinsert it once or twice, its rust evidentially making it difficult to open.

Finally, it clicked.

'I'll go in first, make sure everything's in order, then I'll come back for you.' With one final glance over her shoulder at the fidgeting pair, Mei disappeared behind the door, closing it gently after her.

They both stood in silence, staring anxiously at the closed door.

'Are you alright?' Haru whispered, breaking the tension.

She looked him in the eye, not bothering to hide the unease on her features and matching his volume as she replied. 'No… But I have to do this. I _need_ to…'

He nodded in understanding. 'Do you want me to come in with you?'

She thought for a moment, but decided against it and shook her head slowly. Haru didn't have to see this, it was bad enough that she had agreed to it, so the smaller the audience, the better.

He seemed disappointed with her answer, but respected her decision and fixed his vision back on the chakra infused door, silently praying for it not to open.

When it did, Mei's expression was the first thing that hit them. She was almost glaring and her green eyes had narrowed into slits as she beckoned for Akira to enter.

Gulping loudly and trying desperately to appear indifferent, she crossed the threshold and entered the dark cell.

It was much bigger than she had expected, almost matching the size of the Kage office, which surprised her. Though it was quite dimly lit by only four wall-mounted candles, she could easily make out three dark silhouettes resembling a bed, a simple chair and a toilet.

The atmosphere was musky and damp, and though the scent of the room definitely held an strong element of blood, she realised, with relief, it was nothing she couldn't cope with.

Then she saw him. The _prisoner_. The man from her dream. No, not dream, her reoccurring _nightmare_. He was chained tightly against the far wall, light graze-like cuts crisscrossing around his wrists from where the cuffs had rubbed harshly against his skin. Her eyes landed on a glowing blue band on each forearm, which she decided where the chakra-draining devices they used to subdue and restrain their captives.

He shifted slightly, making her jump and almost gasp out loud, and her eyes flickered up to his face. His eyes were closed and his head was hanging down so his chin touched his chest, with long, dirty blonde hair covering the left side of his face. He didn't seem to be aware of anyone even being present in the room with him, but then again, he probably had other things on his mind. The chakra sucking mechanisms probably weren't helping his sensing abilities either to be fair.

The Mizukage cleared her throat gently, gaining Akira's belated attention. Their eyes locked and Mei's expression softened instantly. She nodded her head in the man's direction in unspoken encouragement, and moved slowly to sit on the chair in the corner, letting Akira take the stage.

When she finally forced herself to turn back to the subject, to her horror and discomfort, she found him staring straight back. For a moment, she froze. Something hauntingly familiar about the way he was staring sent shivers up her spine and made her want to run and hide. It would be a lie to say that she was not afraid of this man, but neither would it be correct to say that she wasn't intrigued by him.

Mei, sensing the strange change in atmosphere, shuffled in her seat and watched, fascinated. Her movement seemed to bring the man back to earth, and he dropped his head once again to stare at the floor.

But, in that split second before he did, Akira was sure, absolutely positive that she saw him smirk. Even if only for a millisecond.

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><p><strong>AN:**Yeah, so as you can tell I've completely change the direction of this already. As much as it pains me to think I'm having to start this over, I think it was the right decision.

God, that sounded so pretentious. Shutting up now.

Peace out.


	3. Find Your Voice

**A/N:** Managed to accidentally punch the corner of the radiator earlier, damn thing came out of nowhere and attacked me. But I continued to type through the pain and have finally been able to produce this lovely little chapter in addition to my story…

Hope my pain was worth it!

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><p><strong>Find Your Voice<strong>

When Mei finally decided that Akira was officially stumped and had no idea or courage to make her first move, she attempted to try to break the horrifically tense atmosphere. Clearing her throat, she stood and moved swiftly to stand beside the younger girl, patting her on the shoulder and giving her a gentle nudge.

'Have you changed your mind? You don't have to–'

Akira immediately snapped to attention, shaking her head furiously. 'No, no I haven't. I haven't, I'm okay.' She started to move towards the man, her steps faltering as his eyes met her once again. He didn't bother to lift his head, simply took to watching her cautious approach from beneath his long fringe. He seemed almost… amused?

Finally she forced herself to crouch before him, bending her knees to sit back on her heels as she stared him down stubbornly, but he didn't look away. She fisted her hands into tight, tense balls at her sides, before clenching her teeth and willing one hand to lift.

Her fingers edged toward his forehead, mere inches from their destination, when he suddenly gave a short snicker, scaring the life out of her. She stumbled backwards and landed on her bum with an 'oof', scrabbling to sit forward again.

Mei was beside her in an instant, concern flickering through her green irises, and though she made no further moves she stayed beside them, observing curiously.

When Akira had rebalanced, all the humour had fallen from his face and he now glared accusingly at the older woman.

Mei's expression was just as hostile, but backed away slightly to allow Akira to continue.

The blonde's attention flicked back to her, a slight frown forming on his features. He made an annoyed sound as her hand resumed its journey and he rolled his eyes, unable to keep his mouth shut any longer. 'For God's sake will you get on with it, yeah?'

Akira blinked, jaw almost hitting the floor and she heard the Mizukage gasp from behind her.

'I-I'm sorry… What?' The girl stuttered, not really expecting him to reply.

He huffed impatiently, chains clunking as he repositioned himself again. 'I'm going numb here yeah, hurry up and do your thing so I can get out of these things already.'

It was only then that it occurred to her that the chains were probably only there as a precaution while she was 'doing her thing'. That made sense, she supposed, though he had enough leniency to stand, it wasn't exactly like he could lie on the bed chained to the wall like that.

'Erm, right…' She mumbled, shuffling closer on her knees and reaching out for the third time.

She touched her fingers lightly to his temples just below his headband, applying slight pressure as she moved them to rest just under the material. Strangely, he closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose, as though completely comfortable with the situation and almost as though he knew exactly what to expect.

A pale glow began to form around her two forefingers, and with that, she was in. The only way to describe her experience inside another's memories, was as though she was standing in a spotlight of a dark room, surrounded in a library's worth of papers fluttering and dancing around her face, each piece containing a story, like individual parts of a puzzle that made up his life.

She started to skim them rapidly, in an attempt to search for anything of relevance when the swirling papers suddenly froze, with one, larger sheet hovering before her. Confused, she reached out to it, her eyes widening as she watched its content unfold willingly before her eyes. The page was coloured in black and red scribbles, vaguely resembling blood splotches, contorted with the Akatsuki symbol. But the most horrifying thing on the page, was the small, orange swirl that featured dead in the centre of the collage.

She stumbled backwards in the darkness, starting to wonder whether this was a good idea or not. Panic engulfed her and she moved to release herself, but another sheet of paper followed her, forcing its way into her view. This one was different, it was an actual memory.

He was in a room full of people, strange people, all dressed in the same styled cloaks with the red cloud symbol. Her eyes flickered around the room and landed on a young girl sat in the corner, fiddling with her hands and looking very out of place. That was _her_!

As quickly as the previous one, another paper shot into her sight, drawing her in before she had a chance to escape. Akira was there again, right before her eyes, or rather, _his_ eyes, since the memory was from his perspective. The room was circular, resembling that of a training ring of some sort, and she was standing in her battle position, one hand fumbling in her pocket before quickly pulling out to reveal her trusty old whistle.

She was so enthralled with the scene before her that she barely noticed when the next one came into view. Once again, she found herself staring into her own eyes, but there was something different about her this time. She was smiling, laughing actually, tugging on a loose strand of hair casually as she sat cross-legged on a bench in that same training room. A hand, _his_ hand, reached forward to tuck it behind her ear, earning another laugh from herself as he made some lame joke about how it would all fall out if she kept playing with it like that…

That was it, she couldn't take it anymore. Batting away the pages she clamped her hands together and formed her release sign desperately. But it didn't work.

A throbbing pain began to form behind her eyes which she would usually recognise as the 'host' resisting her intrusive jutsu, but something about this pain told her he wasn't letting her go. She scrunched her eyes up and tried to steady her breathing. She had to stay calm if she wanted to get out of this.

Something warm and sickly blew across her face, and her eyes snapped back open to meet two yellow-gold irises, lined with purple staring back at her. _Who the hell is this?_

The figure chuckled cruelly, and she froze at the feeling of cold, sharp metal against her throat. She realised a second later that she was in another memory, except, this one wasn't one of his, as she was looking through her own eyes. _Is this… one of my own?_ The vision answered for her, as the blonde in question, flanked by three other 'Akatsuki' members charged into the room behind the yellow eyed stranger.

'Itachi, Kisame, Deidara. How nice of you to join us,' The stranger's cruel voice rang out, a vice like grip on her shoulder tightening.

'Orochimaru.' The first spat out, conveying a considerable amount of hatred.

'You gonna give us a hint as to what we owe the pleasure?' The blue man, who she recognised vaguely from the bingo books as Kisame, an ex-Mist nin, kept his voice low and collected, yet possibly the most terrifying that Akira had ever heard. His small beady eyes were narrowed and deadly.

The blonde opened his mouth several times but it immediately snapped shut again, seemingly unable to formulate a suitable string of words through his apparent fury.

The papers fluttered again, surrounding her and clouding her vision. Hot, salty tears began to form behind her eyes, she was, undoubtedly, terrified and completely and utterly confused.

Suddenly everything dropped, drifting softly to land in a scattered mess around her feet and the throbbing pain vanished. Jumping at the chance, she slapped her hands together in another attempt at escape, and almost cried for joy when the familiar wind rippled through her hair and left a funny whirring sound in her ears.

'Akira? Are you with us? Are you okay?' The Mizukage's worried voice was music to her ears and she blinked several times to clear the darkness. Light poured in and she sighed in relief.

Her hand recoiled from the prisoner's forehead as though it had burned her and she leapt to her feet to face the cell door – her escape route – a little too quickly. She wobbled with the sudden head rush and someone caught her arm from behind to steady her, which was weird, because Mei was now in front of her.

She spun around, still a little disoriented, and was stunned to find the blonde man watching her with a cautious, almost concerned expression. He withdrew his hand from her arm slowly, and slumped back down his sitting position on the floor.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

'I think we should go.'

Akira nodded eagerly and backed away warily, her eyes only leaving his when she was safely on the other side of the door.

Haru all but flew to her side, placing both hands on her shoulders and forcing her to look at him. 'What happened? Are you alright? You were longer than I thought, was everything okay?'

'Haru!' The Mizukage barked, shutting him up and practically prying his hands from the shaking girl's shoulders. 'We'll discuss this later.'

Akira gulped, knowing very well that Mei had been addressing her. She trailed after the auburn-haired woman like a zombie, keeping her gaze firmly straight ahead as she refused to meet Haru's questioning glances.

After what seemed like a lifetime, they arrived at the main office, and Mei turned to a now very agitated Haru.

'I would like to speak to Akira for a moment in my office, alone. You may wait out here.'

Before he could even protest, the pair disappeared behind the door, and the jounin seated at the desk beside him smiled and offered him a drink.

********** Inside the office **********

'So, Akira.' The woman's smiley demeanour had long since faded, and though she remained perfectly calm, it was obvious she was troubled. 'What exactly just happened?'

'I don't think I'm entirely sure, Milady…'

Mei sighed, and rubbed her temples lightly. 'Alright, why don't you start from the top?'

And so for the next few minutes, Akira explained in great detail as much as she could, leaving out only minor facts such as the moment in the training room and her smiling and laughing, and concluded with a long drawn out groan of frustration and her head sank into her hands.

'I think I'm even more confused than before. It was so weird, it was like he wanted me to see those things! And when I tried to get out, he held on like there was no tomorrow!'

'Then how did you get out in the end?'

'I'm not sure. He just sort of, dropped everything…' She mentally rolled her eyes at her bad pun that only she could understand.

When her senior failed to respond, she spread her fingers slightly, still over her face, to peep through the gaps. Mei was regarding her carefully, eyebrows knitted together as though in some internal debate with herself. Eventually she relaxed, and sighed in resignation.

'Akira. That man has been in custody for over a week now, and I think you should know, that despite the various interrogation methods my team have supplied, he hadn't actually spoken a single word until today.'

_Maybe the interrogation methods were the problem…_ She thought mentally, but scolded herself immediately after for thinking that way. She had always been too soft, and everyone knew it.

Mei was grumbling something incoherent to herself, strumming her fingers against the desk as she thought. Akira sat watching her uneasily until she returned to Earth.

'I think, perhaps it would be best to keep this to ourselves for now, Akira. You may tell Haru what you wish, but ideally I want this to remain between you and I, and possibly a few of my most trustworthy of my personal guards.'

_Ao._ She thought. _He'll definitely be in on it, he's one of her best_. She didn't particularly like Ao, he gave her the creeps to say the least and he was far too violent for her liking.

'I want you to report back here at 6pm tomorrow evening. I have another plan, but again, you probably won't like it.'

Akira shifted uncomfortably under the Mizukage's cool gaze. Her original plan, for Akira to use her ability on the prisoner to search for any relevant memories, had been in favour of Akira discovering something out about her past. This time though, she feared it would consist of a much more organised and supervised 'search', and with a much more serious intent. Gathering Intel was something Akira was used to, having a Kekkei Genkai that allowed her to enter other people's minds would do that to you. But in this case, she really didn't like the idea of where this was going.

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><p><strong>AN: **I have to say, I really have to do a hell of a lot of research on the Mist village and its members/Kage etc. for this story! Good old Narutopedia.

Hope you're liking it so far, don't forget to review or my inspiration ceases to exist!

In a while, crocodile.


	4. Advancements

**A/N: **I want to keep the humour in this story as my other one was a bit depressing, so I'm gonna attempt to throw in a few lame jokes and comments that I find amusing because, let's face it, it doesn't take much to amuse me.

Sorry if my humour makes you want to cry more than my depressing story…

Still a disclaimer. My various plans for kidnapping Kishimoto and claiming Naruto for myself failed so yep, still own nothing.

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><p><strong>Advancements<strong>

As Mei had promised, Akira really didn't like this plan.

She glared at the Jounin's back in front of her as she traipsed once again down the never-ending staircase and practically ran through the torture corridor. She had reported back to the Kage office at 6pm that evening as requested, and found a small squadron of ninja awaiting her arrival. She had guessed the intention of the plan before any of them could even explain it to her, since the sinking feeling that she'd just been recruited into the interrogation team had haunted her all day.

So here she was. They paused outside the cell and Mei turned to face them. The team consisted of the Mizukage, of course, and three other Jounin males, two of which she had never seen before. The third being Ao, as she had previously suspected.

'Ao, you know the drill. You and Fin will enter first, and if he continues to be uncooperative, and I highly doubt he's had a sudden change of heart overnight, you can call Hotaka and Akira in.'

Akira frowned at this. 'Wait, what about you Milady?'

'I will be in my office. Sorry dear, but I just can't stay with you this time, I have a meeting with the council at 7pm that I simply cannot get out of. Believe me, I tried.'

Akira nodded, disappointed and scared. She didn't want to be left alone with the torture trio, and she chewed her lip nervously as she glanced up at the one they called Hotaka, the one who'd be staying outside with her. He had short, spikey black hair that seemed determined to defy gravity and dark onyx eyes to match. He wasn't smiling, but something about his expression and general demeanour seemed slightly comforting. But only slightly.

Mei bade them 'good luck' and headed back for the stairs, shutting the door to the corridor tightly behind her. She watched her go and, by the time she looked back to the team, two had already disappeared into the prison cell, eager to begin.

The minutes ticked by awkwardly, and Akira mentally thanked God that the prison walls were soundproof, figuring that silence was better than interrogation noises.

'If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?'

She blinked at the man beside her. 'I'm 22.'

'Oh right, okay.' When she continued to gaze at him curiously, he spoke again. 'I was just wondering. You look young, that's all.'

'Is that a problem?' She questioned, accidentally out loud.

'Not at all, it's just unusual to have someone so young join the interrogation team. The youngest member before you is about 35.'

She briefly wondered how old this man was. He didn't look 35 himself, closer to 40 if she had to guess, but she didn't want to offend him so kept her mouth tightly zipped.

'They shouldn't be too much longer. Ao has no patience, and I can tell he's dying to see what you can do that he can't.' Hotaka's expression twisted into a smirk, only softening when he noticed the worried glance she threw at the cell door. 'He's a proud man, he either loves you or hates you, there's no in between with him. But those he's fond of he's very loyal to.'

_Was that supposed to make me feel better_?

She scowled at the floor and twiddled her fingers in a lock of hair. _'If you keep playing with it like that, it'll fall out!'_ Her hand dropped to her side abruptly at the memory now implanted in her mind, making Hotaka flinch slightly at the sudden movement. She was extremely thankful that he chose not to comment.

A few more minutes passed in equal silence to before, until finally, the cell door was yanked open by a furious looking Ao, his mouth set in a harsh thin line.

'Your turn.' He growled, turning on his heel and stalking back into the cell.

They followed cautiously, Akira almost stumbling in her haste to avoid his fury in case it was redirected at her. The layout was identical to yesterday, the prisoner chained to the exact same spot, in pretty much the same position, and Fin taking Mei's previous seat on the chair in the corner. Ao was leaning against the wall beside the bed, arms crossed tightly over his chest and a feral look scarring his face.

She edged forward until she was standing about two foot away from the prisoner, who was staring at her with that same strange look he had given her the day before. Hotaka, after securing the prison door, was hovering behind her ready and able to assist her should she need it. The other two made it clear that they had no further interest in the subject, but were now merely curious as to what she would do next.

She sighed quietly and knelt down, dragging herself forward slowly so she wouldn't have to stretch too much.

Ao huffed impatiently, and snapped, 'Take your damn time…' making her jump and mumbled a quick apology.

Her hands oved on their own, fingers outstretched as she reached for his forehead, but Fin's voice stopped her.

'What are you doing?'

She angled her body slightly so she could face him as she replied. 'Erm, m-my Kekkei Genkai, I was going to–'

'Yeah yeah, you can read minds or whatever, but that's not why you're here.'

This was news to her, and her face contorted in confusion. 'What? But I can't do anything else…' _Really, the only thing I'm any good at is this!_

Hotaka intercepted before Fin could snap back. 'What he means is, you need to get him to talk. It's all very well and good entering his mind and whatnot, but only you can see that.'

'But I can show you myself afterwards! I wouldn't even know where to start…' Her voice took on a small pleading tone. What were they saying? She couldn't torture someone if her life depended on it.

'You could be showing us anything! You may have been here for almost two years, but you'll never really be one of _us_.' Ao's cruel words hit her like a slap in the face, and she felt an irritatingly familiar prickle in the back of her eyes as she stared up at the three Jounin.

Hotaka began to scold him, while Fin simply rolled his eyes, obviously getting bored.

Akira swallowed hard, fighting her weakness. 'W-what do you want t-to know about?' She stuttered, voice on the verge of breaking.

'Well you could start with his name.' Ao suggested with another annoyed huff, trying and failing to tone down his anger.

'You don't know his name?' She asked, puzzled.

'Do _you_?'

She thought back to the memories he had shown her, recalling several names being thrown around. 'It could be Itachi, Kisame or Deidara… No, not Kisame.' She muttered, thinking aloud.

'It's Deidara, yeah.'

Four sets of eyes shot to the blonde, who had almost been forgotten about. Akira turned her body back to face his, watching him carefully. 'Sorry…' She mumbled.

He scoffed, not entirely sure what she was apologising for, but knowing that she probably shouldn't be saying that to him with three pissed off Mist ninja around.

'S-so you're in Akatsuki, huh?' She struggled to decide what to ask him, she'd never done this before and it was true when she said she didn't know where to start.

'You really are no good at this, yeah.' Deidara mocked, clearly amused by her fumbling.

'Hey, give me a chance!' She retorted uncharacteristically, gaining a few surprised looks from behind and making her suddenly very aware of the three other presences in the cell, all of whom had remained suspiciously quiet 'Okay erm, where are you from?'

The blonde raised an eyebrow. 'You didn't think to check my headband?' He smirked and added for emphasis, 'that I'm wearing.'

'Oh. Right. Iwa. Okay.' She frowned and sucked in a breath, about to ask another ridiculously useless question when Fin cut her off.

'Bloody hell, don't let him speak back to you like that. What are you, stupid?'

Something inside her snapped, and she leapt up and whirled on him, eyes burning in frustration. 'Do you want my help or not? I don't have to do this, in fact, I don't even _want_ to do this. The only reason I agreed was because the Mizukage let me stay in this village when I had nowhere else to go and she's been very good to me. So just… Shut up p-please!'

The room was deathly silent, with only the sound of Akira's angry breathing to be heard for a few long seconds.

'Hah! She sure told you, Fin.' Ao surprised them all by chuckling, his pale eye creasing as he mocked the other male.

'Whatever, I'm out.' Fin stormed to the prison door, a flurry of curse words following him as he left.

Ao sighed, unfolding his arms. 'Guess that's us for the day. Hotaka, you can finish up here, right?'

'Aye sir.'

When it was just the three of them, the Mist Jounin stepped around Akira to address the blonde, who had found the whole situation highly amusing. 'I'm glad you're enjoying yourself.' He muttered as he reached down to unclick the metal cuffs.

Akira backed up to the door anxiously as Deidara was unchained from the wall. She half wondered if he had forgotten she was still there, but when he turned around he nodded his head to the door.

'Let's go.'

She lingered for a moment, watching the blonde as he absently rubbed the circulation back into his wrists, carefully avoiding the sore areas. Then she hurried out after Hotaka, dipping her head and hiding beneath her fringe the whole way back.

********** Elsewhere **********

'This is where we split off. We'll meet back here in five days. That should give you plenty of time to cross the water and do a thorough search. Got it?'

'Yeah, yeah. Geez, who died and made you fucking leader?' Hidan scowled at the Uchiha, flipping him off as he sauntered off cockily towards the docks. Kakuzu and Kisame gave each other a parting nod, before turning to follow their partners.

The boat journey was long and Hidan was infuriatingly childish. Honestly, it was a miracle the older Akatsuki member didn't throw him overboard, although it would have done the other passengers a favour and he was extremely tempted for most of the ride.

When they arrived, the air was moist and refreshing but neither of them cared. Kakuzu's plans for another bounty hunt had been utterly scuppered by this stupid mission to save that artist brat, and Hidan was extremely pissed that he had been forbidden from engaging the enemy unless left with no other choice, and he knew his partner would blab if he tried anyway.

Trudging through the damp, muddy grass, they scoured the forest they had entered for a suitable area to camp for the night. It was already dark, but the pair had quickly adjusted to the dim lighting and finally settled into a rocky clearing, Hidan grumbling the whole time that his feet were wet, to which Kakuzu had replied by mocking him for being such a baby.

The Jashinist picked up two small rocks and began to scrape them together in quick, harsh movements, but his partner scowled and knocked them from his grip. 'No fires, idiot. We're _not_ to engage the enemy, and that means we're _not_ to be detected.'

'Urgh, damn it, Kakuzu. How am I supposed to dry off without a fire?'

'Calls himself an S-rank criminal, then moans about wet feet. Pathetic.' Kakuzu muttered, neatly dodging a rock that his partner had flung at his head. 'Anyway shut up now, we have a long day of searching ahead of us tomorrow. I want to cover at least the majority of the Western quarter of the Island. We'll do a quarter a day. Now get some sleep, you imbecile.'

'Tsk, whatever.' Rolling his magenta eyes, he slumped cross-legged on the floor, flicking one final insult at his teammate before finally settling down. 'Grumpy old bastard…'

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I dunno if I've told you guys this, but I love Hidan. He's just awesome and he should always be written about where Akatsuki fanfics are concerned. Period.

I bid you adieu.


	5. Whose Side are you On?

**A/N:** Things start to pick up now, there's some fluff in this and the next chapter, which I hope you'll thoroughly enjoy.

Still a disclaimer, I don't have the patience to draw over 600 manga chapters and maintain the quality that Kishimoto does.

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><p><strong>Whose side are you on?<strong>

The next few days followed much the same formula, she would mope and worry in her cramped little apartment during the daytime, then in the evenings she would report to the Kage tower obediently and traipse down to the dungeons with the interrogation team.

With each visit, Fin became more and more hostile, and Hotaka would often have to jump to defend her from his violent rages. Ao remained impartial, claiming that he didn't particularly care for either of his comrades and therefore wanted nothing to do with their petty arguments.

As far as information gathered, all they seemed to get was general information that they already knew. They tried several tactics, first by having Akira ask a list of questions that they had pre-planned, but the Akatsuki member was very selective about his answers. They also tried to bribe him, offering him a decent meal and drink of his choice. But the blonde had long since figured out their game, and unfortunately for them, he was playing it well.

So that led to where they were now. Another guaranteed-to-fail idea, this time offered up by the Mizukage herself, who took as much time as she could to keep updated and involved in their task.

Much to Akira's dismay, Hotaka had been called away from the village on an urgent mission in the Western border of the Island, so it would just be her, Ao and Fin. Needless to say she was dreading the entire experience.

The plan this time was to have Akira reel off her questions once again, but with an added element of positive reinforcement. It was laughable really. For every question he answered with a reply that the Mist jounin deemed acceptable, he would be granted an extra privilege such as an extra five minutes of 'exercise', which Akira later found out was 20 minutes every day in a round room at the back of the cells. The conditions were controlled, with a minimum of three guards at a time and his the level of chakra allowed through his bracelet was secured and lowered.

It was ridiculous and Akira knew he'd never go for it, but here there were anyway.

Ao explained the circumstances to the scowling blonde, who rolled his eyes in response and muttered something unintelligible about their derogatory methods.

'Okay, off you go.' The middle-aged man motioned for Akira to start, who almost grimaced at how pointless it was as she took on a robotic tone.

'Alright. Where is the Akatsuki base?'

'Which one?' He raised an eyebrow, but there was a hint of amusement behind his eyes that made her uncomfortable.

'Erm, the main one, I guess?'

'It's quite far from here.'

'And the others?'

'Slightly closer.'

She sighed and glanced at Ao, who was shaking his head in frustration. She didn't even bother to acknowledge Fin.

'Okay, let's try another question. Who is your leader?'

'It's definitely not some prissy old hag they call a Kage…'

'Shut your foul mouth, you worthless scumbag!' Fin snarled, a feral glint in his eyes as he took a threatening step towards Deidara.

'M-maybe we should take a break…' Akira stammered nervously at the rising tension.

'Just do your job.' The jounin snapped, making her flinch at his temper.

'R-right.' She turned back to the blonde who was glaring daggers at the angry jounin. 'How many members are there currently in Akatsuki?'

He hesitated, mulling over the consequences if he spilled anything vital. He supposed a simple number wouldn't hurt, besides, he really hated the way that Mist nin threw his weight around with Akira. 'Ten.'

Her eyebrows raised into her hair, surprised by his honesty. 'Oh, okay so you probably move around a lot then since there's quite a lot of you, right?'

'Right.' He looked like he wanted to say more, but the sound of the lock clinking caught their attention. A flustered looking woman scurried into the cell, armed with what looked like several summoning scrolls and two large katana cases.

'Hate to interrupt, but Ao, sir, you're needed in weaponry 302 immediately, one of the Genin from training squad 4 has trapped himself in a chakra lock and we need your Byakugan to free him!' She glanced around the cell, then added, 'I'm sure Master Fin can continue in here without you.'

Ao huffed and rubbed his temples, ignoring the alarmed expression on Akira's face at the thought of being left alone with _him_. 'Fine. Don't take much longer here, Fin. I'll see you in the Mizukage's office tomorrow morning. She wants to run through some new ideas she has for the trainees.'

Fin waved his hand in dismissal, and the pair left quickly.

Akira stared longingly after them, jumping when Fin cleared his throat and told her to carry on. She was about to continue, when Deidara scoffed loudly.

'Geez the organisation of the Mist is pathetic.'

A vein throbbed in Fin's neck, but he reigned himself in and closed his eyes. The reaction apparently only encouraged the Akatsuki member further, as he then went on to comment on the poor leadership, which was an extremely touchy subject for the Mist Jounin. His face became increasingly redder until Deidara finally pushed him over the edge with a snide remark about Mei's lack of ability to control her village.

He moved so fast that Akira barely had a chance to register him before his hands were clamped tightly around Deidara's neck.

'Say that _one_ more time, I fucking _dare_ you.' He fumed through gritted teeth. The blonde only smirked at him, earning himself a solid punch to the gut. Deidara coughed and spluttered, but somehow managed to cling to that insanely arrogant smirk plastered over his face. Fin growled and slammed his palms into his shoulders, pinning him to the wall so hard that it was a miracle it didn't crack.

Akira suddenly sprung to life, startled and horrified by the scene unfolding before her. Without thinking, she leapt between them to face Fin, forcing him backwards with a gentle shove.

'Stop it! Stop, _both_ of you!' Her voice came out in a strange, high-pitched wail that she would have been embarrassed by if not for her current predicament.

'_Move_.' The Jounin seethed, making her blanch. She felt Deidara tense behind her as his breath hitched in his throat.

She shook her head slowly, quivering as she raised her hands to calm him down. 'We should go now, Ao said not to be–'

'I SAID MOVE!' He grabbed her wrist furiously, practically tearing her hand off as he flung her easily out of the way. She landed clumsily on the floor and almost instantaneously began to scrabble back to her feet. This time she had to forcefully squeeze her way in between them so she was leaning almost her full weight on the chained shinobi behind her.

'_Please_, calm down! We _need_ to _leave_!' She begged, her desperate blue eyes locking with Fins dull grey ones. They had long since glazed over, his fury completely consuming him uncontrollably.

'You have three seconds to get out of my way. One…'

'Just move, Akira.' Deidara's firm voice startled her, but she held her position stubbornly.

'No… Please, let's just go!'

'Two…'

'Akira, just do what he said!'

'It's not right, Fin! He's defenceless, he can't fight back!'

'Defenceless?! Do you think that occurs to him, or any other Akatsuki scum for that matter when they slaughter innocent people? Civilians?' The Jounin raged, momentarily forgetting his countdown. 'They're God-damn murderers you stupid girl!'

'So are you and I! How are we any difference! That's what ninja do isn't it, they're defined by death. We fight under the influence and order of a side, a cause, a leader! Strip everything down to its core and we're all the same, just pitiful, worthless human beings grasping pathetically at this thing we call life and constantly fighting to survive in this Godforsaken world, when all anyone really wants is just a tiny bit of peace and quiet!'

Fin slapped her hard across the cheek, the sound ricocheting violently around the walls. She whimpered feebly at the sting, hot angry tears streaming down her face and dribbling off her chin.

The Mist jounin looked her up and down in disgust. 'Tsk, the only thing that's pathetic in this world is people like _you_.' With that, he turned on his heel, and stalked out the cell, slamming the door and locking it in one swift movement behind him.

Akira stood rooted to the spot and staring at the door for what seemed like hours, not even daring to breathe. _He was just trying to scare her, right? He's coming back…_

Seconds ticked by without a single sign of life from beyond the cell walls. She shivered involuntarily at the chill that was creeping up her spine, and was suddenly very aware that she was still pressing her back against the prisoner.

'What a jerk, yeah…'

She gasped and stumbled forward, spinning around awkwardly to meet a pair of piercingly blue eyes staring back at her, a mix of anger, concern and confusion jumbled on his face.

'Are you alright?' He mumbled quietly when she made no further movement. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no words seemed to form. 'I'm sure they'll realise you're here sooner or later.'

Slowly, she shook her head, finally finding her voice. 'I usually just go straight home, so they won't…' Another shiver ratted through her, and she wrapped her arms limply around her chest weakly. Deidara shifted his weight to lean on one leg, his chains clinking with the notion. He winced lightly as they rubbed against his raw skin around his wrists. Her eyes swept over his lower arms, concluding that they were simple pressure cuffs and she could easily unclip them if she tried. She just had to decide if she wanted to first.

He seemed to guess what she was thinking from the way her brow creased in thought, and tried to reassure her. 'I have this too don't forget, yeah, so I'm not going anywhere.' He jangled his arm with the glowing blue chakra bracelet just below his elbow for her to see.

Her compassion won the battle in the end, and she inched forward to take hold of the arm still suspended before him. She examined it for a second, before placing her thumb reluctantly over the pressure pad, and squeezed with a tiny burst of chakra. The chain clanged to the floor, and she risked a cautious glance at his blank expression before unclicking the other one.

He rubbed them carefully as Akira backed away to slump to the floor against the far wall next to the door, her eyes never leaving his face. She doubted he was going to try anything because of his chakra band, but she knew better than to let her guard down against an S-rank criminal, no matter what their background was. Drawing her knees into her chest and folding her arms around them, she sank deep into thought, scanning her brain in a futile attempt to remember anything, _anything_ at all about this man in her past.

'So it's really true then, yeah?'

His voice came from the chair in the corner, startling her slightly. He had turned the chair around to straddle it back-to-front with his arms crossed over the top, and was watching her with that irritatingly familiar way.

'H-huh?'

He gave a short laugh at her blank expression, but his eyes remained distant. 'You really don't remember a thing, do you?'

She reached up to absently twirl her hair between her thumb and finger. 'Not really.'

'Well you either do or don't…'

'Erm, well I guess I don't then.' She frowned, debating whether or not to mention her strange dreaming habits. On the one hand, he could help her fill in the blanks, but on the other… Well, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted the blanks filled, for fear of what they held.

His eyebrow raised at her hesitation and waited for her to continue. Finally, she sighed in defeat.

'I have this… Dream.' Her eyes flickered uncertainly to his, but they gave nothing away. 'I don't really understand it, but I think it's from my past. It starts out with–'

'Show me, yeah.'

'W-what?' She stared at him, and he shrugged casually.

'Show me.'

She didn't really think about it for as long as she should. Everything inside of her sang to trust this stranger, and for some reason, she found herself listening. In reality, her situation couldn't get much worse anyway. She was locked in a prison cell with a dangerous member of Akatsuki and from what Fin was undoubtedly going to tell people, Mist would probably never trust her again.

_So what the hell, let's just go for it._

**A/N: **Really hope you guys hate Fin as much as I do. What a dick…

Anyway, I should really get back to uni work, got like, four projects on-the-go. Juggling that, deviantart and Fanfiction. I'm so dedicated…

Laterz.


	6. Past Midnight

**A/N: **Slightly different perspective in this chapter, still in third person but more from Deidara's point of view this time.

Should probably throw in another Disclaimer round about now. You know the drill, don't own Naruto, just the OCs. Blah-de-blah.

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><p><strong>Past Midnight<strong>

Her fingertips had felt cold against his forehead, sending a tiny shiver scuttling through him at her touch. It made his fingers itch at the urge to take her hands and warm them between his own.

The images from her dream had made perfect sense to him, of course they had, but now as she sat staring at him expectantly he found himself at a loss for words, which was incredibly rare for Deidara.

Akira was prone to balance issues and fainting and he knew from experience that she was fragile. She was also extremely trusting and unbelievably naïve, though he knew all too well how easily she could shatter. His main concern now was how she would react should she learn the truth about her past.

He hardly expected her to have a sudden rush of past feelings, fling her arms around him and run away with him into the sunset. No. It could go one of two ways, both of which involved her freaking out. The first option was that she would panic, become a quivering wreck and do everything physically possible to forget what he had just told her, literally. Or she could handle it more rationally and together they could try to figure out where to go from there. He prayed for the latter.

'Does it mean anything to you?'

Her voice brought him back to reality. She was still watching him, with her big, curious sapphire eyes that glinted softly in the candlelight, absently twiddling with her hair, which made him want to roll his eyes. _Well, here goes._

'It makes sense, yeah. Guess your fancy technique isn't all that bulletproof.' He smirked, trying to keep the mood light.

'It works perfectly well on other people, thank you very much.' She sniffed, playing along despite everything. 'I've just never used it on myself before…'

He scoffed. 'Yeah, yeah.' He paused, taking a moment to debate his decision to tell her everything… Or _show_ her. 'Akira,' he began, his expression sobering and his voice taking a more serious tone. 'Do you want me to show you what happened?'

'…Okay.'

He had been sitting on the bed with Akira cross-legged on the floor in front of him, and he watched her nervously as she shifted into a taller kneeling position. He leaned forward slightly so she could reach his forehead, but as her cool fingers found their destination once more, he wrapped his hands around her wrists softly.

'Wait,' he mumbled. 'I just want you to know…' He closed his eyes briefly, almost regretting speaking out, and then inwardly cursing for hesitating. 'I'm sorry.'

He didn't think she was going to reply at first, what was she supposed to say to that? He must have sounded crazy. But then she smiled. It was a small, sad smile, but a smile none the less. It surprised him, to say the least, his mouth falling open slightly as his heart throbbed.

Her expression lingered only for a second before it was gone, and the familiar, warm tingling began to form just above his temples.

As soon as he was sure she was securely in and ready, he closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. This was going to take a while.

********** 4 hours later **********

Time seemed to pass in a painfully slow motion. Deidara scowled into the darkness as he pulled one knee up to his chest, rubbing his chin methodically over its surface. He wasn't angry, he was worried and confused. Confused because when he'd finished filling her in on her missing memories, she had not reacted in either way he had expected. Instead, she had simply backed away slowly staring straight through him blankly and, as her back had hit the opposite wall, slid down silently into a heap on the floor. There had been no panic, no tears, and barely any emotion at all.

He risked a sly glance at his temporary cellmate, who hadn't moved an inch up till now. Her expression was still unreadable, which annoyed him to no end, but now she was holding something. Something small and shiny. He squinted through the dim lighting, his eyebrows raising as he realised it was her old Waterfall headband plate. Her ninja pouch that normally rested against her hip was now lying sideways on the stone floor beside her, and he wondered vaguely how she had pulled it out without him noticing. Damn chakra band dulling his senses.

His eyes shifted from her pouch and back up to her face. Her eyes were glassy and her cheeks were pale, with a barely noticeable but definite thin, glimmering trail down from one eye to her chin.

Suddenly, her eyes flashed, meeting his cloudy expression with an intense stare. She shivered as she stared, the cold, dingy dampness of the cell obviously starting to get to her.

With the suspense killing him, Deidara finally convinced himself to move, shuffling forward and off the dungeon bed, pausing to check on Akira. She was still watching him, but she didn't seem nervous about his movements, so he continued slowly. He arrived next to her, shifting onto his knees in an awkwardly slow manner, and leaned back against the wall, their shoulders almost touching.

Another few long moments passed, and he fell into a deep debate with himself as to what he should do or say next. He was just about to open his mouth when a small lump landing on his arm stopped him in his tracks. Hardly daring to breathe, he glanced down to see the top of her head resting gently against his shoulder, and her hand, still clutching the metal plaque, was now pressed to her chest.

He let out a long breath and closed his eyes. He didn't need to say anything, she would be alright now.

********** Elsewhere **********

'…What are you doing, you moron?' Kakuzu scowled at the idiotic, sorry excuse for a criminal they called his partner.

Hidan glared, mumbling through his stuffed mouth. 'Am Eatinf, whaft's your probum, Kakuzu?'

'You've got more damn food on the floor than in your mouth, what a total waste of money…' The older man grumbled, ignoring the spluttering of crumbs as Hidan tried to snap back. He lifted his green gaze to the town around them, scanning the area. This village was small, small enough for them to wander in and out without the risk of being recognised.

He sighed impatiently and stood up from the stool he had been perched on. Choosing a direction, he marched forward arrogantly, rolling his eyes at the cries of protest from behind.

When Hidan did catch him up, he was already outside the village, loitering at the bottom of a long line of stone stairs that led the way up to the Mist village.

'Hey, Kakuzu, you really are a bastard, you know.' Hidan, for the life of him, still couldn't understand why they were all so bothered about getting the idiotic blonde member back anyway, they'd replaced members before, so they could do it again.

'Shut up, imbecile, _listen_.'

Hidan glared momentarily before a few muffled voices managed to float their way into his ears.

'Yeah, apparently the Mizukage has a secret weapon she's been using to get him to talk!'

'No, that's not true. All he's told them is things they already know! The village is still no better off than before.'

'Am I the only one who's curious about the 'secret weapon'?'

The Akatsuki pair exchanged glances, straining their hearing and double checking that their chakra was completely masked.

'I heard from my Anbu friend they're using that girl that Haru usually hangs out with.'

'The green-haired one? Doesn't she have some weird mind-reading Kekkei Genkai?'

Hidan sucked in a breath, hands balling into fists at his sides. So she _was_ here. Kakuzu gave him a warning look and murmured to him to keep it zipped, but his advice fell on deaf ears as his partners shoulders began to shake with anticipation. The older man was seriously debating tying Hidan down, just in case, but before he could decide, a new voice entered the fray.

'Hey, what are you guys doing hanging around here at this time?'

'Captain Hotaka! We could ask you the same thing!'

'I've been scouting the North side of the Island, the elders heard from one of the villages there that two strangers had been seen lurking in the trees, but I didn't find anything.'

'Do you think it could be Akatsuki?'

'They could be after the prisoner…'

This time it was Kakuzu's turn to react. He cursed inwardly, annoyed that they'd been so careless.

'I don't know. Come on, we should hurry back.'

As soon as they were out of earshot, Hidan ground out through gritted teeth, 'So, _partner_, what's our next move?'

'We need to report back. Our mission is complete.'

********** The Mizukage's office **********

'And you're sure there was nothing even slightly suspicious?' Mei raised an auburn eyebrow quizzically.

'No Milady, not a thing.'

'How peculiar…' She mused, tapping her fingers on the edge of her desk thoughtfully.

Hotaka shifted slightly, rubbing his neck uncomfortably.

'You're wondering how the interrogation went earlier, right?'

The jounin gave a sheepish smile. 'Aha, you got me.'

'Fin reported back early, said Ao got called away to one of the training teams shortly after they began. He and Akira then continued alone. Nothing out of the ordinary I don't think…Oh, he did seem in a particularly worse mood than usual though. Maybe I should check on Akira…' Her voice trailed off as she stood from her desk and wandered to stare out of the large office window, which stretched across the length of the wall.

'I'll go, if you like. You have your hands full here, clearly…' He gestured to the desk full of unsigned paperwork and offered the Kage a sympathetic smile.

Mei rolled her eyes and chuckled. 'Well, there goes my excuse to get out for a bit!'

Hotaka laughed back. 'Sorry Ma'am. See you tomorrow morning.'

'Bright and early!' She winked and watched him go, before sinking back into her chair and resigning herself to the incredible workload the elders had left for her.

Just as Hotaka was leaving, he noticed a familiar brown mop of hair lolloping in his direction. Frowning, he glanced at his pocket watch. It was almost 2am, what was Haru doing here so late?

Greeting the younger male with a quick wave, he hovered by the tower doorway and waited for him to approach.

'Captain Hotaka?' Haru gave a small smile that didn't reach his eyes, and the jounin instantly realised something was wrong.

'Is everything okay, Haru?' His brows furrowed in concern.

'I'm not sure, sir… I called round for Akira a few hours ago to drop off these,' he lifted a bag of groceries in front of him, 'but she wasn't home. I've just been round again because I was worried she hasn't been eating much recently… Did she show up for the interrogation earlier?'

'I was away on another mission, but I've just spoken with the Mizukage who said that when Fin reported there was nothing…' His eyes widened as his voice trailed off. 'Oh no…'

'What? Oh no what?!' Haru pressed, voice rising with concern.

'Fin and Akira aren't exactly best of friends…' His eyes were distracted, staring off into nothing as a few different thoughts crossed his mind. 'Come on, we should go speak to him.'

'At this hour?'

'Do you want to find Akira or not?'

The younger male nodded eagerly dropping the food bag and jogging after Hotaka who was already sauntering towards Fin's home.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I'm just beginning to realise how often Akira plays with her hair… It's a bad habit okay? I'm making a point.

Go wild and review. Live the dream. YOLO.

Oh God, I hate that phrase…


	7. Rescue

**A/N: **I think I'm getting the hang of this whole 'riddling but relevant chapter titles' thing I set myself. What do you think? Do they suck?

They amuse me anyway, but then, I'm in on the joke.

Enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Rescue<strong>

At the pace they were walking, they arrived in no time, Hotaka practically knocking the door down with his pounding.

The door was yanked open, revealing a very tired, very pissed off looking Fin. 'The hell, Hota–'

'Where is she, Fin?' The man in question growled, keeping his voice low and dangerous. Haru shrunk back slightly, glad that he wasn't on the receiving end.

'Where's who?' Fin's expression moulding into a cocky sneer.

'Don't play games with me, what did you do?'

'What did _I _do? I think the question you should be asking is, 'what did _she_ do?'!' His smirk remained plastered cruelly on his face, but his voice took on an irritated tone. 'Little bitch tried to defend that _criminal_ when I–'

'When you what? Hmm?'

'Tsk… Murdering bastard deserved it.'

Something inside the Captain snapped, and he leapt forward, forcing Fin backwards into his house and slamming him against a wall. Haru started at the swift movement, but made no attempt to get in between them since he didn't have a death wish.

Hotaka's forearm was shoved up against the other man's neck, but Fin didn't seem to care. He was enjoying his game far too much.

'So this is how it's going to be, huh, Hotaka? Taking sides with an outsider over one of your comrades? You disgust me…'

'I'll ask you one more time, Fin. And this time, you're going to answer me.'

Fin laughed once, a loud, harsh sound that made Haru decide that he detested this man. He was utterly confused about what was going on, but he was happy enough that Hotaka was on his side.

'I thought she'd be more comfortable residing with one of her own, I was merely doing the girl a favour…'

He had barely had chance to finish his sentence when Hotaka had spun on his heel and marched out of the house, dragging the youngest Mist nin after him in what would have been a comedic style, had it not been for the situation.

'W-woah, Hotaka-sir, what's going on? Where's Akira?'

'She's still in there. She's in the prison cell.' He muttered, still seething.

Haru's chocolate eyes flashed with a mixture of anger and concern. They half ran, half flew through the tower entrance, Hotaka flipping up a small pass at the few ninja who tried to query them. He barked a few sharp orders at the jounin guarding the door to the dungeon stairway, who scuttled off to inform their leader immediately.

Haru was practically dancing on the spot as he watched his companion fiddle with the lock to the cell. When it finally clicked, he swung it open and stepped forward hastily, gesturing for Haru to wait for him to go first.

He entered cautiously, but as soon as his eyes landed on the sleeping girl in the corner of the bed he visibly relaxed. She appeared unharmed.

A brown blur darted past him, freezing on the spot when he remembered the prisoner was still here.

The blonde was leaning casually against the wall beside the bed. His arms were folded across his chest and he had one leg bent so his foot was pressed against the stone wall. His expression was a cross between amusement and irritation that he had initially been completely ignored.

'So, you finally remembered her, yeah?'

'What did you do to her?' Haru spat at him, his glare flickered from Deidara to Akira, deciding whether or not it was safe to move closer.

'Relax, geez. She fell asleep so I moved her onto the bed, yeah.' He rolled his eyes and held up his hands in mock surrender. 'That's all, so don't shoot.'

Haru edged closer, until Hotaka nodded at him. Feeling reassured from the older man's approval, he closed the distance and scooped her up into his arms, careful not to disturb or awaken her. The Captain watched closely as something flashed through the prisoner's blue eyes when Akira was retrieved, but he couldn't quite place the emotion.

Within seconds, Haru was beside Hotaka again, and with one final cautious glance over his shoulder at the Akatsuki member, he disappeared with the sleeping girl behind the cell door.

The Captain hovered for a moment too long, wondering whether or not to say anything to the blonde man, who was staring at the door where the pair had exited. He settled with a small nod, before turning to leave.

********** The Next Morning **********

Blinking softly in the harsh daylight that was seeping through the exposed window, Akira hoisted herself up sleepily onto her elbows. It took her a moment to fully take in her surroundings, but when she did, her eyes shot wide open. _Was it all a dream? _

The sound of the kettle clicking dragged her attention to her slightly ajar door. Crawling to the edge of her bed silently, she edged off it gradually in case its creaking disturbed whoever was in her apartment and tip-toed across the room. Her fingers brushed against the handle, but to her horror, it was suddenly swept open and away from her grasp.

She stumbled backwards in surprise, but her expression instantly calmed to relief and then to joy when her eyes landed on the figure before her.

'Haru!' She flung her arms around him, snuggling her face into his neck, desperate for the comfort of something real, something she was sure of. Haru was real, he was here with her now, of that she was sure.

'Akira! You're awake…'

She pulled back and gave him a small smile, which he returned happily. 'What are you doing here…?'

He gave her a funny look, but explained anyway. 'I came looking for you last night but you were nowhere to be seen, I got worried and decided to go check with the Mizukage, and then we, me and Hotaka, found you… in there…' His voice trailed off painfully, scowling at the floor in disgust.

_So it wasn't a dream…_

'Are you alright? I mean, he didn't hurt you or anything?'

'No, I'm totally fine, I just fell asleep after a while…' It wasn't a complete lie.

He didn't seem convinced, but turned to lead the way into the living room all the same, where two steaming cups of tea were sitting neatly on the table.

Akira opened her mouth to thank him, but suddenly found herself struggling for balance as the room seemed to rattle and quake around her.

'W-what the…' Haru mumbled as he gripped the couch to steady himself. As quickly as it had come the rattling ceased, leaving them both staring at each other in confusion.

'What just happened?'

'I have no idea…' Haru moved to the edge of the room to peer out the small window frame. She watched him cautiously, examining his expression and her pulse quickening as she heard him gasp.

'Oh no… Come on, this is not good!'

'What? What's not good, what is it?' She babbled in a flurry, racing after the now-retreating male as he flew through her front door and out into the streets. 'Haru! Wait up! What's wrong?'

He paused just long enough for her to catch him up, looking her dead in the eyes as he muttered one, panicked word. 'Akatsuki.'

They had come in through the main gates, cocky and confident as ever, in a group of four. The pair of friends had run straight to the front line, one in fury and one out of curiosity.

Akira stared at the figures as they strode forward, easily batting away any futile attacks the Mist defense lines were sending at them, as though it were some sort of childish game. She knew these men, they had been her allies once and she, theirs. Her eyes trailed across their features, one by one. Itachi. Kisame. Hidan. Kakuzu. None of them had seen her yet, and she wasn't entirely sure either she or the Mist were ready for their grand reunion just yet.

'Akira!' Haru barked, breaking her out of her trance. 'Get back, we'll handle these jerks!'

She nodded quickly, turning on her heel and racing towards the Kage tower without a second glance. Akira wasn't stupid, she knew Mei was probably already fully aware of their arrival, but something inside was pulling her closer and closer to the tallest building at the centre of the village.

There was another startling crashing sound as a row of apartment blocks crumbled and collapsed to the ground at her feet. She dancing around the flying debris, narrowly avoiding several bricks to the head as she ran, channeling chakra to her feet in a hurry.

Her feet carried her straight past the Mizukage office, realization dawning on her as she sailed down the endless flight of stairs and was through the torture chamber in a flash. Panting hard and gasping for air, she bent over to lean her hands on her knees while she recovered. Hotaka and five other masked shinobi greeted her outside the prisoner's cell.

'Akira? Did Lady Mizukage send you?' He seemed surprised to see her, but kept his face blank as he spoke.

'N-no… I was just… coming to warn you…' She sucked in a breath and finished her sentence quickly. 'There are four members at the gates and moving forward easily!'

That wasn't why she was here, but what else could she tell them to explain her strange burst of interest in their prisoner. The real reason lay nestled snugly in the back of her mind, unbeknown even to her.

'Oh, we already know, Milady informed us. Here,' he extended his hand to her, his fingers curled around an icy looking water bottle. She glugged it eagerly, letting out a long sigh of relief as she handed it back to him gratefully.

'What are you going to do?' She asked nervously, gesturing to the locked prison door.

'We have our orders… Hopefully it won't come to that, but ultimately we cannot allow the prisoner to go free at any cost.'

She gulped at the insinuation that, should the situation turn sour, they had orders to kill. That was her fear, the reason she had so desperately scrabbled through rubble and catastrophe to get here. Swallowing hard, she nodded at the jounin before her, leaning backwards on the wall next to him to wait.

And wait they did. For almost two hours, they stood in silence as the battles raged outside. They only spoke the occasional mumbled apologies for awkwardly standing on someone's foot or something.

Finally, there was movement in the chambers just on the other side of the door they were standing by. Hotaka and another male they had called Juun, moved to unlock the cell door and slipped inside silently, Akira hot on their heels and gaining a curious look from the former.

He was about to speak but she answered his unspoken question before he could. 'I don't want to be out there when they arrive…' She lied, fumbling with her hands. Understanding flashed through his eyes and he dropped her gaze, missing the way her own eyes fluttered with the guilt of lying to him. She genuinely liked Hotaka, he didn't judge her like the rest of the Mist, and he stood up for her countless times against the other interrogation team members.

She hovered awkwardly by the once again locked cell door, her eyes wide as she watched Juun's hand move to rustle in the side pocket of his vest. Deidara was watching her, a strange unreadable look on his face, but when the masked jounin produced a flicker of silver in the dim lighting from his pocket, he averted his eyes.

There was a sudden loud bang and the sound of metal clashing in the corridor outside, and Akira found herself backing away from the door.

When silence fell, nobody dared breathe.

After a few painful seconds, the small but significant sound of the lock being scratched echoed through the room. Juun readjusted the blade in his fist and took a deathly cautious step towards the blonde, who was staring furiously at the door.

When it clicked, the door swung open desperately slow, revealing a dark silhouette in the door frame, who took one step forward, bright red eyes glinting in the candlelight.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I found out today (as I'm typing this), that the Naruto manga has come to an end, which in turn means… The anime is finishing! I repeat, Naruto, is finishing.

Nooooooooo Kishimoto, how could you do this to us?!

Seriously don't know how I'll survive.

Life is hard, then you die.


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